Texas star 1200 or 1600

[dxing440]

3 PART QUESTION USING....
Omegaforce radio,(w/rfx75) has a variable of 1-18w dk, and 0-104w pep!
Usually set at 1.5W dk swingin 40W pep

1.. Which would be the better amp for the radio, 1200 or 1600? My vehicle is Cummins Diesel with 130 amp alt, so already have 2 batts.

2... How would the amp be connected to the batter(ies)

3... What would be the DK watts, and PEP watts, for each amp.

 

[rabbiporkchop]

If you had an am radio instead of a suppressed carrier double sideband radio, for the dx1200 you would want 8 watts carrier input and 32 watts pep for an output of 120 watts carrier, and 480 watts pep.
for the dx1600 you would need 20 watts carrier, 80 watts pep, for an output of 200 watts carrier, and 800 watts pep. It would still need to be put on a scope and cleaned up though, because Texas Star doesn't use beta-matched transistors and the IMD they produce from the factory is pretty substantial unlless you add lots of caps to filter the IMD.

 

[dxing440]

If you had an am radio instead of a suppressed carrier double sideband radio,

The radio as far as i know, IS a single side band radio.
And why the watts so low for a 1200 (480)? I get that from a dx500v.
This radio will DK and swing the numbers you mentioned.

 

[Eastside]

8 pills will do more than 480.

 

[555]

well bring that 1200 and the 16 and put it on the bird meter
and i will even be nice enough to use the 1000 watt slug
even though neither amp will have enough get up and go to even get the needle up 3/4 of the way

next person will say
well hey my 667 does 1000 watts
and i say hey i let you use my 500 watt slug and the needle will struggle to make it to 400

 

[Mudfoot]

Your bursting the guy's bubble.

 

[wavrider]

Texas star 1200
Eight 2sc2290, Max output per transistor if ran in accordance with manufactures specs is 80 watts out with four watts drive
8x80=640 watts output.

Texas star1600, eight 2sc2879 if ran in accordance with manufactures specs has 120 watts output per transistor with 7 watts of drive.
120X8=960watts output with 56 watts of drive.

Keep in mind the Texas Starr 1600 will need around 160 AMPS to produce this much output.

The op on the receive end will never know the difference between either amplifier based on output.

Heck for that matter the DX500 will be almost as loud as the DX1600 as you have to increase your output by four times to increase your signal by one S unit.

Here are the specs for the transistors.

Transistor Specifications at RF Parts Company

Anything else you may see on the watt meter is just harmonics caused by over drive etc etc.

Now you may increase the voltage and thus increase the output of the amplifiers, but then again no one will ever be able to hear the difference on the receive side.

Companies and techs stay in business by the ops that overdrive the piss out of their amps, splatter the frequencies just so they can look at a watt meter swing.

 

[dxing440]

Wavrider that makes good sense. That's what I was coming up with, but wanted to double check. How would the 12 or 16 need to be connected to the batts?

 

[wavrider]

Wavrider that makes good sense. That's what I was coming up with, but wanted to double check. How would the 12 or 16 need to be connected to the batts?

I am not to knowledgeable on mobile set ups. Hopefully others will post answers to this question.

I do have some friends in FL that run big SS amps and they go to the welding supply distributors and make their power cables from welding lead cables. They say it works well and conducts the amperage they need. They compete in shootouts and keydowns, also they build their own amps.

Keep in mind that the mobile antenna will limit your receive, so going with that big an amp is way overkill and IMO a waste of $$$.

The Texas Star 500 will allow you to talk further than you can hear with the mobile setup.

Correction in previos post, the TS 1200 needs 32 watts of drive to make full output, 4 watts each transistor.

Each to their own

 

[AudioShockwav]

I really , really believe that the T/S 500 ( or comparable 4 "pill" ) is a great Amp to run in a Mobile.
It is about as easy as it get`s for a plug and play set-up.
Plug and play as in a single hi output alt, factory batt and good cable to the amp like 6 gauge.
Waverider is correct in what he has said about going any bigger, you must increase your power output 4x to really see a difference on the other end, and the first bump that you do is the biggest increase that has a difference.


If you really want to go that big, because of the radio that you are running, IF you decide to go with a Texas star, I would chose the 1600, use 2 gauge wire and a 160 fuse at the battery.
Another good place to get cables, fuses and connectors is go to a place that sales and services forklifts, talk to the guy at the parts counter and tell him what you want to do, they deal with large capacity cables, fuses and connectors all the time because a lot of warehouses use electric forklifts.
You should see about 900 watts as has already been said.
I ran a sweet sixteen years ago and I never asked it to do more than that and it still worked good when I sold it.
You can drive it harder, and see bigger numbers, but if you want it to be reliable don`t do it.
Another Amp you should look at is the TnT 1500 amp built by the X force guys, you are going to pay about $700 bucks for the 16 and you must add fans to it if you want it to live very long.
The 1500 has B bias for SSB, and the case is built for better cooling because it forces the air across the heat sink and it has a fan already.
It will easily handle the full output of your radio.

73
Jeff

 

[gamegetter]

the four pill could probably also be run on the mag mount wilson 5k provided that you have a good rf ground, ie bonding of hood, trunk, & doors and proper grounding of body to frame...the 4 pill would prolly be the biggest amp i would try running on the mag mount, after that hard mount. ymmv...in other words each install may present it's unique challenge and you may have to hard mount for a 4 pill.

i like the xforce tnt1500. You have the extra battery to run it. but as already mentioned it likely will not make a great difference over the 4 pill.

 

[dxing440]

Thx for the info. I think ill stick with my dx500v,Im having hard enuf time with swr's now.
And if the other 2 dont do 1200 or 1600 watts, it is, a waste of money. I do
keep the radio @2.5dk and 30w pep and the 500 does fine.

 

[n0zna]

They all all right,it takes double the watts to get one s unit...the tx500 is good..old work horse.The 1200 and 1600 will be good also,but when you run that much mbl you are asking for problems,swr coax...you run to much you have to go to hard line,not coax...73 de JW

 

[rabbiporkchop]

8 pills will do more than 480.

According to Toshiba the 2sc2290 is a 60 watt transistor without harmonics. I'm sure lots of people see 200 watts out of a 2290 with 10 percent of that power on the fundamental frequency.

 

[9C1Driver]

well bring that 1200 and the 16 and put it on the bird meter
and i will even be nice enough to use the 1000 watt slug
even though neither amp will have enough get up and go to even get the needle up 3/4 of the way

next person will say
well hey my 667 does 1000 watts
and i say hey i let you use my 500 watt slug and the needle will struggle to make it to 400

If your Bird meter has the peak reading kit then a Sweet 16 will peg that 1000 watt slug when driven with 100 watts PEP. Your right if your Bird is a standard Bird.